The Imperial Mr Reid

[whell]

This story serves as a significant counterweight to all of the lame claims about "obstructionist Repubs" and how the Dems go out of their way to work with Repubs. Hell, Reid doesn't even worry about working with members of his own party much.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/2...orebears-power

Congressional experts say the Nevada Democrat has used more strong-arm tactics than his predecessors, has a firm grip on his Democratic colleagues and has played a major role in changing the once-collegial Senate.

American journalist Robert Caro famously dubbed Lyndon Baines Johnson the “master of the Senate,” but experts say Reid now wields more power than Johnson ever did.

Reid’s tight leadership reins have protected vulnerable Democrats from having to take tough votes and helped them amass a 55-seat majority. He routinely puts legislation on the floor as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, denying the minority and even members of his own caucus the chance to amend it.

“Sen. Reid has actively assumed the role far in excess of that assumed by previous majority leaders. That is to be a traffic cop over the amendment process either to produce amendments by allowing those he deems acceptable for consideration by the Senate or to bar amendments altogether,” said Martin Gold, an expert on congressional procedure who served former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker (R-Tenn.) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).

“He has engaged in that practice more than twice as frequently as all previous majority leaders combined,” Gold said.

And as far as the childish claim that "Republicans made him be such a basitd:

Baker drew a contrast between Reid and his Democratic predecessors, former Senate Majority Leaders George Mitchell (D-Maine) and Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).

“Under Mitchell, conditions were much more benign,” he said.

Baker emphasized that Republicans were much more willing to cooperate with Democrats under Mitchell’s reign.

He said that Reid having “gone farther than anyone else” is “less a reflection on his grasp on power than on the increasingly bitter partisanship.”

Also:

This year, the major items of the Democratic agenda — an unemployment benefits package, an increase in the minimum wage, the Paycheck Fairness Act and student loan legislation expected in June have not undergone committee markups. Reid has brought them all straight to the floor, violating the “regular order” process.

Reid flexed his muscle earlier this year when he overruled Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.) desire to rework a deal he struck with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to freeze scheduled cuts in doctors’ Medicare payments.